30: The leaf and berry collection

(Burning bush berries.)

When I was out for my walk today I was reminded of a project we used to do in elementary school.  We had to collect leaves from different trees and then press (iron) them between two sheets of wax paper to preserve them, labeling each with the name of the tree.  It was always one of my favorite school projects.  I was thrilled when my own children were given a similar project as it gave me an excuse to do it again.  But even that (helping my children) was a long time ago (or so it seems).

(Maple leaves in red.)

Photographing leaves, it seems to me, is another way of collecting autumn and learning the names of trees.  Unfortunately I’ve never been good at the names part.  I have a difficult time remembering names.  And faces, sometimes.

(Maple leaves in yellow.)

It’s day 30 of my commitment to go outside each and every day for a year.  It’s still early in the commitment but even in this short period of time I feel as though I’ve changed in ways I am unable to describe just yet.  One change I can find words for is the way I now approach each day with excitement and wonder.  Every walk I’ve taken over the past 30 days has brought a gift of some kind.  The biggest gift of all, so far, has been a deep appreciation and gratitude for the area and the land on which M and I live.  There is so much beauty out there, big and small and in between.

Because I feel I’ve been given so much during this commitment, I want to give something back.  I’ve been thinking about ways to give back to this little piece of the earth I’ve been walking.  What I’ve come up with will be fodder for future blog posts.

I’ve also been thinking about how I can thank those of you who have been following me here at the Bogs blog.

(A variety of yellows and greens.)

So, for the first time, I am having a Give-Away.  Here is how it will work:

• Leave a comment.  It doesn’t have to be much.  A “hi” or a smiley face or something that will let me know you are interested in the Give-Away.
• Or, if you don’t like leaving comments because you are shy or it’s too public or whatever your reasoning, you can email me.  Over to the right, in the side bar, you’ll find a “contact me” with my email address.  It’s under the “Where are you?” map of the world which is under my blog roll.
• I will write your name down on a small piece of paper, fold it up, and put it in a hat.
• M, without looking, will draw a name.  I decided to have him do it because he won’t have anything to do with writing the names or folding the paper, and it just seems fairer that way.

The prize is a free print of almost any of my photos.  I qualified that with “almost” because some of my photos do well on the screen but not in print.  Also, there are a few with deeply personal meaning to them that are not available as prints.

(A cascade of yellow.)

The winner (the person whose name is drawn from the hat) can pick from almost anything from the Bogs blog, Bountiful Healing, or my galleries at ImageKind and MaidinSun Photography.  I think 11×14 is a good size, but that might depend on the photo that’s picked and whether or not it’s been cropped as well as the personal preference of the winner (cos if you want something smaller, no problem).

So, head on down to the comments section and enter the Thank You! Give-Away.

Today’s Walk:  The discoveries sometimes bring up sadness

I took my walk early today.  There’s no way of knowing what the weather will do in spite of all the meterologists’ attempts to forecast what the day will bring.  Today, it is said, will bring clouds and sun and a high of 55 degrees (F).  We had our first freeze last night with the temperature dipping down to 32.  It was still frosty and cold when I went out.  I am going to have to start bundling up.  A hat and a pair of gloves would have been welcome.  It was mostly cloudy and we had a few sprinkles after I came back inside.

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